The San Francisco 49ers’ 35-point defeat was the second-largest margin in a playoff game in franchise history. After the game, head coach Kyle Shanahan said, “It’s a loss, but definitely don’t make more of it than it was. It was a loss.”
That’s an impressive perspective to have after walking off the field to a 41-6 score. Today, we’ll discuss what we learned about the 49ers after their playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
There’s a need for speed on the roster
During the game preview, I mentioned the team speed on the roster in the Week 14 rematch with the Seahawks in 2023. That season, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk could be found on the weekly Next Gen Stats leaderboard as the fastest players of the week.
A Niners player topped 20 miles per hour a whopping 16 times that season. The only player to accomplish that feat this season was Dee Winters after his interception with the Colts.
Jauan Jennings logged the fastest time at 19.23 miles per hour. The other two fastest ball carriers on the roster this postseason were Skyy Moore and Brock Purdy—a far cry from two playoffs ago. It’s not often you see a Kyle Shanahan quarterback standing in the pocket, holding the ball, and waiting for somebody, anybody to separate. It didn’t happen.
ESPN’s Nick Wagoner tweeted that the 49ers’ average top speed this year was 12.81 miles per hour, the sixth-slowest in the NFL. Samuel and Aiyuk didn’t test fast at the NFL Combine, but their play speed passed the eye test. That tells us that 40 times aren’t the best way to gauge play speed.
For example, Jennings ran a 4.7 40 and had the fastest time on offense this season. The play where Jennings reached that speed in the Wild Card round is precisely what the Niners need, a player that can, consistently, turn those intermediate in-breakers into 40+ yard catches.
Adding speed isn’t limited to the offensive side of the ball. In the Wild Card round, Saquon Barkley easily ran away from Deommodore Lenoir. This past weekend, Jaxon Smith-Njigba had clear separation on Darrell Luter on his end zone touchdown, while getting a hand on running back Kenneth Walker, who was problematic in each of the previous two games.
The 49ers are slow on the perimeter, and it showed at the worst possible times. The rookies, Upton Stout and Marques Sigle, are unquestionably fast. But the play speed everywhere else in the back-7 did not look like that of a playoff contender.
Invest in the interior
Spencer Burford has long been an intriguing option, but he was one of the last picks in the fourth round, who is undersized and an average athlete. Burford, like Ben Bartch, is an unrestricted free agent this offseason. There weren’t enough exposures of Burford learning from mistakes in pass protection to warrant another season as the starting left guard.
Center Jake Brendel is under contract for another season. He’ll be 34 by Week 1 next season. He’s a quality player and does a lot to help the offense, but this would be the offseason to identify Brendel’s replacement.
Dominick Puni has two years left on his rookie deal. He’s a player you can win with.
The 49ers went against two of the best defensive tackles in the NFL in Byron Murphy and Jalen Carter during the playoffs. Seattle and Philadelphia’s interior pressure was king in both games. The playoffs showed that the 49ers should strongly consider investing in the interior offensive line.
Stealing a page out of Seattle’s book from the 2025 NFL Draft might not be the worst idea. Grey Zabel is arguably the best rookie from that class. But that also goes against the front office’s philosophy. Aaron Banks being selected in the middle of the second round was the highest Shanahan selected a guard.
The free agent pool doesn’t exactly scream, “Invest in me,” meaning the 49ers must identify a starter in the NFL Draft at left guard.
Find a blue-chip player in the secondary
Of the four remaining teams in the playoffs, only the Rams don’t have a blue-chip player in the secondary. As we know, it is an offensive team with an offensive identity through and through.
The Seahawks have Devon Witherspoon. Nick Emmanwori isn’t far behind. Denver has cornerback Patrick Surtain to erase one side of the field. Safety Talanoa Hufanga was a second-team All-Pro member. New England cornerback Christian Gonzalez had an incredible season in man coverage and allowed one of the lowest success rates along the way.
San Francisco was more lucky than good against the Eagles during the Wild Card round in coverage. A.J. Brown had a pair of drops that could’ve easily resulted in points had he held on. Would having Nick Bosa back help? Of course. But that doesn’t mean the 49ers can expect to get away with middling cornerback play.
The 49ers can get out of Deommodore Lenoir’s contract whenever they want to without needing to eat a significant amount of dead money. Assuming they give him another chance in 2026 and it doesn’t work out, the team could save about $16 million in cap space with a post-June 1 release in 2027.
Renardo Green is on his rookie contract. I liken him to a Carlton Davis: A CB2 who is competitive, but probably not the guy you want to be your “shut down” corner.
Upton Stout’s upside makes him appealing. The 49ers have found their nickel.
We will see how Malik Mustapha looks one year removed from an ACL next season. He still has two years left on his rookie deal. Ji’Ayir Brown and Marques Sigle were the other options at safety.
I could see the 49ers bringing in a player like Cam Taylor-Britt for competition at cornerback. However, if you’re looking for a blue-chip player, that comes through the NFL Draft. Witherspoon, Surtain, and Gonzalez were all first-round picks. Emmanwori was drafted third overall in the second round.
Whether it’s a safety or a corner, the 49ers need to walk away from the draft with a blue-chip player in the secondary. They just spent the last draft upgrading the trenches on defense. Bosa and Mykel Williams returning from injury is how they’ll upgrade the pass rush. That’ll allow every other player to be a rotational piece.
The defense was bend-but-don’t-break all season, playing coverage to keep things in front of them. They rarely dictated the action. Adding a quality coverage piece this offseason can change how the 49ers attack.
